Tag Archives: Cheryl Dunye

Director Cheryl Dunye Discuses Queer-Feminist Afro-American Film Making

In a recent this interview with Teddy Award, filmmaker Cheryl Dunye discusses her film The Watermelon Woman, which won a Teddy Award back in 1996.

The Watermelon Womanwhich is coming up on its 20th anniversary – tells the story of a young, Black lesbian working in Philadelphia who is consumed by a film project: to make a video about her search for a black actress who appeared in films in the 1930s and was known only as The Watermelon Woman.

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Following various leads, Cheryl discovers the Watermelon Woman’s stage name and real name and surmises that the actress had a long affair with Martha Page, a white woman director in Hollywood.

Her discovery leads Cheryl into a relationship with Diana, who’s also white and wealthy played by Guinevere Turner.

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The affair strains both Cheryl’s relationships with friends and her quest for Fae but ultimately leads Cheryl to finding herself.

The Watermelon Woman

The Watermelon Woman will be screening in this year’s TEDDY Retro in honour of the 30th birthday of the TEDDY AWARD and the 20th anniversary of this remarkable movie.

More information can be found on our blog: www.blog.teddyaward.tv

15 Female LGBT Filmmakers You Should Follow On Twitter

15 Female LGBT Filmmakers You Should Follow On Twitter – Feel free to add your favourite LGBT filmmakers on Twitter in the comments below, we’ll consider adding them to updated editions of this article.


@DesiMakesMovies@DesiMakesMovies – The tall, attractive, very funny Desiree Akhavan hit Sundance and OutFest this year with her first feature film, the comedy “Appropriate Behavior,” and has joined Lena Dunham on the hit series “Girls”

 


@babbitjamie@babbitjamie – Jamie Babbit is a film director, producer and screenwriter. She directed the lesbian films ‘But I’m a Cheerleader’, ‘The Quiet’ and ‘Itty Bitty Titty Committee’.

 


@cdunye@cdunye – Cheryl Dunye is a film director, producer, screenwriter, editor and actress. She is a lesbian and her work often concerns themes of race, sexuality and gender, particularly issues relating to black lesbians.

 


@cathydebuono –  Cathy DeBuono is an American actress, who has started in lesbian feature films such as ‘Crazy Bitches’, ‘She4Me’, and web series ‘We Have to Stop Now’

 


@Soniasebastia@Soniasebastia –  Sonia Sebastián is a director and writer, known for De chica en chica (2015), Elisa Guzmán (2004) and Ladrido, and new lesbian feature film Girl Gets Girl the movie. 

 


@lisagornick@lisagornick – Lisa Gornick works with film, tv, drawing and performance. She is the writer/director of two award-winning art house comedy features ‘Do I Love You?’ and ‘Tick Tock Lullaby’. She also directs for TV including the award winning pickpocketing suspense drama Dip for Channel 4.


@francescagreg@francescagreg – Raised in Rome, Los Angeles and the English countryside, Francesca Gregorini brings a worldly, passionate and unique sensibility to her filmmaking. Her character-driven films – ‘The Truth About Emanuel’ and ‘Tanner Hall’ – are visceral and darkly humorous, stylistically bold, with undertones of the magical and surreal.


@alexkondracke@alexkondracke – Formerly a writer/producer on The L Word and Hung, Alex Kondracke has gone on to director of the movie ‘Girltrash: All Night Long’ and is currently working on a project with Annapurna Pictures.

 


@RobinsonAngela@RobinsonAngelaAngela Robinson is an American film and television director, screenwriter and producer who is work includes making movie D.E.B.S., directoring episodes of the L word and True Blood.

 


@JennieLivingsto

@JennieLivingsto – Jennie Livingston is a film director best known for the 1990 documentary ‘Paris is Burning’. She is currently working on a new project ‘Earth Camp One’.

 


@StaciePasson@StaciePasson – Stacie Passon is a director and writer, known for lesbian movies ‘Concussion’.  She was award the Film Independent Spirit Awards in 2014.

 


@redrubes14@redrubes14 – Yoruba Richen is famed for documentary filmmaker, professor, ‘pontificator’ and ‘passionate adventurer’, who has directed and produced films in the U.S. and abroad including Africa, South America and Southeast Asia. Her latest film The ‘New Black’ premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival in June and went on to win Audience Awards at AFI Docs, Philly Q Fest and Frameline LGBT Film Festival as well as a special jury mention at Frameline.


@turnerguinevere

@turnerguinevere – Guinevere Turner is an actress and writer, known for American Psycho, Chasing Amy and Go Fish.

 


@kvpi

@kvpi – Christine Vachon – Christine Vachon was born in New York and is a producer, known for Boys Don’t Cry, One Hour Photo and Far from Heaven. She now runs New York-based production company Killer Films and is a champion of the indie film movement..


@laurenwolkstein@laurenwolkstein – Lauren Wolkstein was named one of the top twenty-five emerging filmmakers through The Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Independent Filmmaker Project’s inaugural Emerging Visions program at the 2011 New York Film Festival. She famed for creating ‘Social Butterfly’, ‘The Strange Ones’, and ‘Cigarette Candy’.